Ahmadinejad likes irking West with Holocaust denial

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was proud that he angered Western countries by denying the Holocaust.

The Iranian president was quoted Monday by the Iranian News Agency as saying that the angering of "professional man-slayers is a source of pride for us and will not stand in our way." He reportedly was referring to Israel and Western countries.

Speaking Friday at a Tehran rally marking Jerusalem Day, when the Iranian regime expresses solidarity with the Palestinians, Ahmadinejad said that the Holocaust was a "lie" and that Israel’s days were "numbered" and its regime was "dying."

"The pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie," he said, "a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim and the occupation of Palestine."

Referring to Western leaders, he said, "They launched the myth of the Holocaust. They lied, they put on a show and then they support the Jews."

The government-funded Press TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that Israel needs to be confronted because its existence "amounts to an eternal insecurity in the region."

Ahmadinejad’s speech comes days before he travels to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, and two weeks before Iran launches its dialogue with the West under an Obama administration initiative.